Christianity and the Tolerance of Liberalism

Christianity and the Tolerance of Liberalism: J.Gresham Machen and the Presbyterian Controversy of 1922-1937 by Lee Gatiss

At the beginning of the last century a more liberal way of interpreting Christianity began to grow in popularity. Traditional believers in many denominations are currently reaping the fruit of a failure to heed the stark warnings about liberalism given at that time by American theologian J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937). Much of what happened in the Presbyterian Church of which he was a part will sound eerily familiar to Anglicans today.

This book examines key battlegrounds in the conflict between conservative, liberal, and so-called ‘moderate’ Christians in the early 20th Century – training for ministry, the denomination’s attitude towards money, and competing notions of mission.

Machen’s principles eventually led him to leave both his seminary and his denomination to create new institutions. But did Machen get it right about how to combat liberalism? Even while we acknowledge his theological insight, should we also be wary of repeating his mistakes?

Lee Gatiss is Associate Minister of St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate in the City of London and Editor of The Theologian: The Internet Journal for Integrated Theology at www.theologian.org.uk.

First Published 2008: 84 pages

ISBN: 978 0 946307 63 0

Price: £3.50

Other booklets by the same author:

LS66 The Tragedy of 1662 - The Ejection and Persecution of the Puritans

SAL2008 From Life's First Cry: John Owen on Infant Baptism and Infant Salvation

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